The present invention relates to data collection systems, and more particularly, to a data collection system which collects and transmits data from a photo-minilab at a location distant from a central host computer to that computer where the received data is formatted allowing it to be stored in interrelated databases to be retrievable as viewed or printed data tables and charts.
In the photo-minilab industry a large number of stores may often be operated by a single entity. In order to make important business decisions, such as insuring the efficient allocation of resources and to monitor machine performance, it is necessary to obtain production data from each of the individual stores. Under present systems, however, the required data cannot be gathered instantaneously. As a result, the required data is not always timely available and is not where it can best be utilized to facilitate key business decisions.
In addition to being unable to obtain almost instantaneous information, the gathering of the data relating to the different parameters must be done separately. Data pertaining to production and quality control is currently obtained from different sources. This difficulty arises because it is necessary to communicate with not only a variety of different types of photo-minilab equipment, but also not all of the equipment is capable of generating performance reports. For example, photo quality may be measured by data received from a densitometer and production quantity may be measured by gathering data from a point-of-sale cash register.
Other industries have provided systems which are capable of monitoring a number of locations and relaying data to a central location. One such example is described in U.S. Pat. 4,940,976 [Gastouniotis, et al.] which discloses a system for the remote reading of a water meter. Water usage data is converted into electrical signals based upon the magnetic flux lines generated by the rotating magnets of the water meter. The water flow is continually totalled and transmitted to a remote receiver which then sends the information to a central location.
Although Gastouniotis, et al. discloses a system for remote data collection, it is not adaptable to the photo-minilab industry. According to Gastouniotis, et al., only one parameter, magnetic flux, can be monitored by the remote system. As a consequence only one type of water meter can be read, and therefore, each different type of water meter will require a monitoring system capable of determining flow from that apparatus.
Yet another problem with present systems are the delays which result from the time required to process the data. As is well known in data processing, compiled data must be organized in order to present it in a meaningful manner. As a result, the end user, once having collected performance data from a number of photo-minilabs, must take hours to collate and chart the data. In addition, performance data reports may be presented in a variety of ways, e.g. pie charts, bar graphs or in tabular form. Present systems of collecting performance data fail to provide either instantaneous data collection or convenient and timely data processing.
Therefore, it is apparent that a new type of remote data collection system is needed. Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a data collection system which can monitor performance data of photo-minilab equipment and sample data instantaneously.
Another object of the present invention is to sample a data collection system which is capable of communicating with and receiving data from photo-minilab equipment of different manufacturers.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a data collection system which can monitor and receive data from a plurality of photo-minilabs.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a data collection system which can monitor a number of photo-minilabs which possess different equipment or the same equipment which is configured differently.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a data collection system which can receive data from a remote photo-minilab, store the data in an appropriate form in a database, and retrieve the data in a format selected by the user.
Additional objects, advantages, and other novel features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description that follows and in part will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned with the practice of the invention.